Escape and Return
by Winslow Fisherman
Summary: Everyday people define what's real and what isn't? But what if there was a world like ours, which looked the same but was dark, making you question reality more than usual, and when you slept you had no choice but to visit that world. Would you go mad? Scream for answers as to know the lies from the truth? Well that's what Tai shall do, only can he figure it out before he loses it?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer. I do not own Digimon. Everything else is fictional.**

How The Mystery Began

"If it wasn't darkness that swallowed us,

Then how did we end up in this place?"

-Light in A Cave; Act I, Scene II

_Crash, boom_; my house shook. _Why am I so scared? _That's what I asked myself when I woke up, and I had good reason to then. A wet bed, it was something that didn't make me just angry but also worried.

_Knock; Knock_. "Who could it be at this hour?" whispered Tai.

He walked out his room, he looked around, everything looked the same, but things didn't feel right. He opened the door, his heart jumped when he came face to face with his sister, Kairi.

"What are you doing out at this hour, Sis?" inquired the older sibling.

"You have to help me, they're coming for me," replied the younger of the two.

Eyebrows raise, the bushy/spike hair man is confused. "What are you talking about?"

A loud roar, it makes Kairi push her brother aside and into the house. Once inside she looks at Tai, tears of fear coming down her face. "Close the door!" Another loud roar, it makes the confused look, but he can't see anything it's too dark. "Close the door you idiot!"

_Slam,_ the door is shut. _Click,_ locked as well. Ty walks over to the light switch on the door, but a small shriek fills his ears. "What is it?"

"Don't turn on the light, they'll find me for sure."

"What's going on? Who are they? Who's after you?"

It's pitch black, the moon once hidden behind a cloud shines some light. It reveals a side of Kairi the older sibling has never seen. "The Isomon."

"Isomon?"

"I'm not making it up, they're creatures of the worst kind. So evil, attacking in the dark, they known no boundaries to get what they want."

"Look, your just tired. I'm sure there's…"

"No such thing as a Isomon? But you heard them, right? You heard them?"

Ty walks over, squatting down in front of her. "What do they look like, these Isomon?"

"Your making fun of me, aren't you?"

"No, it's just odd because I didn't see anything."

"That's because they are the dark! Don't you get it, Tai?"

_Bam,_ the front door is opened. Three shadow figures, they stand, blocking the moon's light for the doorway. Ty only sees one thing, hands, which are white because of dehydration.

"They're here! They're here!" screams Kairi.

Tai pulls out his digivice to contact Augumon. "What?" But it won't work.

The shadows dive on in, Kairi screams, Tai moves in, but is knocked aside. He goes flying to the floor, he lifts his head; Kairi is screams for his brother as she's dragged away. The brother gets up as quick as he can, rushing for the hands of his sister. He gabs them but she's wrenched out of grip.

"Tai, help me!" cries the younger sibling.

_Bam,_ the door shuts, locking itself. "No!" the brother runs, fighting with the door, which remains stuck, refusing to open. He drops to the ground, his own tears begin and he weeps loudly.

_Knock, Knock_; someone's at Tai's bedroom door, someone hears him weeping. "Tai, are you okay in there?" inquires a familiar voice.

The oldest opens his eyes, some tears are still dropping; he clears them. "That voice, could it be?"

Tai gets up, racing to the door; flinging it open. "Kairi!" hugs to wipe the fear away.

"Tai? What's going on?"

The older of the two looks into the eyes of his youngest. "I thought the Isomon got you."

"Isomon?"

"Yeah, the…wait, don't you remember last night?"

"No, I was sound asleep. Did you have a nightmare?" Tai turns around, looking to see he's in his bedroom. "What's funny is that I didn't hear a word from your room? Then again, I was pretty exhausted last night."

"Y-Yeah."

"Are you okay Tai?"

"It was so real, was it really a dream?"

"Tai, stop it. You're scaring me."

Brother looks at sister, feeling a bit ashamed. "Sorry, it was just the dream I had."

"Why don't you come have some breakfast? Mom made some pancakes."

Tai looks back in his room, the moment is still fresh in his mind. He shudders stepping out of his room, its drenched in darkness for him. "Okay, why don't you go on ahead of me? I need to use the bathroom." As Kairi leaves, the older brother looks back in. "Isomon..."


	2. Chapter 2

Camping Trip

"With this power, I'll see it all.

I'll catch what I desire most,

Become something more than God."

- Welshire V. Sabington; The Powdered Room

"Isomon, never heard of that digimon before?" said Matt, letting out a yawn; he looked at the clock on his cell.

Tai, looked away from the ground, and up at the beautiful blue sky. "They looked so real, the whole thing felt as if I was really there."

"Maybe it was a nightmarish Level 1 Dream."

The head of the scared looks, changing to confused. "Level 1 Dream?"

"It happens all the time. You see there are levels of dreams, and as you wake up, your dreams get more and more realistic to you. For instance, I dreamed that I was running, something was after me, I didn't have my digivice, only a knife. I kept running, I was too scared to do anything else and I fell in this hole. The weirdest part is as I fell, I seemed to flip over and fall face forward, and I woke up on my face in bed."

"Sounds scary."

The friend smiles, chuckling in agreement with his bushy/spike haired chum. "Yeah, only I guess I shouldn't be surprised I had a nightmare like that. I was up late watching an intense mystery/drama flick with my dad." Silence between the two, then the friend adds. "What do you think may have triggered a nightmare like that, Tai?"

The confused, now frustrated, thinks and comes to a realization. "We had a fight last night."

"What happened?"

"She went to the digital world and didn't show up until dinner. When I questioned her she told me that T.K. just wanted to spend time. I told her that she shouldn't stay out so late, that mom was flipping out and was highly concerned."

"And what did she say?"

"She snapped at me, telling me to stay out of her life. Mom jumped in biting as well, I couldn't figure out why Kairi would do such a thing?"

"It was a relationship thing, Tai. Some people can get moody when they have something going on with someone else, you and I both know that."

"Yeah, but it was just so scary to see her act like that. I'll never forget those words she screamed, "Leave me alone! I don't want to be watched like some object on display, I can do whatever I want! You're just side characters in my life for all I care!" It was the most hurtful and bizarre thing she said to us that night."

"Well, it sounds like to me the fight is what triggered that nightmare. As I've explained, when you got to sleep, whatever you did last usually plays itself out in a dream."

Tai looked at Matt, closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Yeah, but what's tough is that I'll be alone to watch Kairi this weekend, and she's not happy about it."

"Well, I've got a thought. A small one, T.K. and I are going camping with my dad this weekend. Why not ask your mom if Kairi and you can come? You can watch her and relax at the same time."

"Did you guys crack down on T.K. for last night?"

"To be honest, we didn't know about that. He said he was going out to take care of a couple of things and would be back by dinner. Funny, he never came off the sneaky type to me."

Tai stood up, stretching his body. "I have a thought to add onto your suggestion."

"What's that?"

"Why don't we make it a group trip? Celebrate the years of being together."

"Tai, you know that everyone has sort of gone all over the place, right?"

"Yeah, but we could still invite them. We've got time, right?"

Matt snickered. "Yeah, today's Tuesday, so I'll see what I can do." _Pat, Pat,_ the puffy/spike haired kid is headed home. "Going home already?"

Movement stops, Tai looks back. "Yeah, I've got work in a bit."

"Alright, take care. I'll get who I can for the trip and you get who you can for the outing."

Journey home continues, and while walking Tai wonders if the idea of a get together may fix things. Life just seemed so tangled for some reason, and he could really use a break. However, besides asking his mom if it'd be okay, he'd have to get one at work, which shouldn't be to big of deal, his boss was a pretty cool guy. But even if he could get the day off from his boss and the green light from mom, would the vacation help; or would it only make things worse?

I open my eyes; I'm covered with a dark blanket, surrounded by trees. The moon is my nightlight; did we already make the trip? But I don' remember leaving my house, getting the okay from my parents and boss…._ hoot, hoot,_ owls call out into the night…. I guess it already happened, yet this sight…. it's so…. nerve racking.

_Crunch, crunch_ growled the leaves in the night. Tai looked around in the dark, his flashlight shunned away all eyes watching him, he heard scattering inside the forest. As he walked he saw something glint in the distance, the sound of water running made the spectacle very pretty. But he had a bad feeling about it, one he couldn't explain to himself right away. It was only when he came into close view he stopped, a figure, he stopped. It was a man, sitting on a small boulder, his hair was blonde and his haircut was very familiar. The one with light saw the glint came from a knife being twirled in his left hand, this person had a strange occupation with it, this man, was Matt.

"Matt, what are you doing out here?" inquired Tai.

The glint disappeared; it was down and facing away from the night light in the sky. "Tai, when did you wake up?"

"I don't know; how did I get here? All I remember is going home, and the rest is a blur. What time is it?"

"Tai, Tai, Tai. I can't believe you forgot how you got here, those digimon gave you quite the rest for the week…"

"The Isomon, they brought me here?"

The familiar figure turns around, holding his weapon as if ready for as fight. "Don't interrupt me you naïve little punk!"

Hands up, no fight please. "Sorry, I just…"

"You just what?"

"It's just strange that I ended up here. Tell me what are Isomon?"

Matt loosens his grip, chuckling. "I don't know, all I know is that they brought us here and want to make sure all goes according to plan."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by us? Are the others here?"

Some of the darkness closes in around the scene; dry hands reach out, wrapping themselves around the bizarre friend. He smiles at his amigo, scary and unknown to the other.

"You better be careful man, or else you'll be in the dark like me? Or is that something you want? What's your true desire in the life you live?" says Matt, chuckling like a sinister nut.

"Wait! I have questions! Come back! Come back!" screams Tai, but soon he finds himself in darkness, his loud voice alone in the night.


End file.
